Recently, an article has become popular on the Internet. The writer looked back on his difficult past which touched a lot of people.

“I have come a long way and gone through a lot of hardships(苦难). During 22 years of study, the road has been a rainy and muddy one. It was not easy to get here,” the writer, Huang Guoping, wrote in the first part of his article.

In the article, he wrote he was born in a mountain area and his mother left home when he was 12. Five years later, his father died in a traffic accident. In the same year his last family member, his grandmother, passed away.

Living a poor life, he said before high school he made money mainly by catching fish and raising pigs. “At that time, doing homework or reading books was the most enjoyable part of the evening,” he wrote. When he went to school, his teachers always talked to him privately because he couldn’t afford to pay for schooling. He also added he might walk without shoes in summer and wear thin clothes in winter.

After entering high school, where he was supported by kind-hearted people and didn’t have to pay for education, Huang saw “the gentle light of hope that life gave him”. He also said he couldn’t remember how many times he had felt hopeless because of the difficulties of life. “But my dream has been simple. I want to keep studying and get out of the mountain area. I think it can prove I haven’t wasted my life,” he added.

His dream did come true. Huang now works for Tencent, a famous Internet company, as a senior researcher in the company’s AI Lab.

At the end of the article, Huang talked about his wishes.

There are many children whose mothers stay with them all the time. However, their kids don’t always like this. Sometimes they want their moms to leave them alone. I was once like this.

However, things changed when I was 9 years old. My mom’s company was going to move to Hong Kong. To give me a better life, she chose to work in Hong Kong by herself rather than find another job in Shanghai. When I heard this, I had never been so happy. I was excited about the freedom (自由) I would enjoy, since my dad was always busy with his own work.

The last time I saw her before the pandemic (流行病), we seemed to have nothing to talk about. She must have noticed this, too. She decided to invite me to visit Hong Kong during the winter holiday. And I agreed to do that. Unluckily, the trip did not take place because of the sudden pandemic. I started looking forward to the end of the pandemic. I missed the days when she asked me to do my homework; I missed her saying hello every time I came back home; I missed the good night kisses she gave me every day.

In Hong Kong, she has to deal with everything by herself. It is her love for our family that supported her when she was under so much pressure. I feel sad about realizing this so late. I can’t wait to see her again. I will hug her and tell her that I love her.